Chart Detail

Average effective federal tax rates, by income group, 1960–2004

Note: Data are for tax units (people represented on a single tax return).

Source: Authors' analysis of Piketty and Saez (2007, Table 2)

Updated June 18, 2012

Documentation and methodology

Underlying data are from Piketty and Saez (2007), Table 2, “Federal Rates by Income Groups, 1960 to 2004.” The top .01 percent, the 99.9th–<99.99th percentile, 99.5th–<99.9th percentile, and 99.0–<99.5th percentile data are provided. The 20th–<99th percentile tax rate was calculated as an average of each income groups’ tax rate weighted by their share of total income.